1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bottle holder and more particularly pertains to a new holding apparatus system for injectable fluid bottles for minimizing the exposure of health care workers and patients to unintended needle pricks, as well as helping keep the fluid bottles sterile and generally facilitating the control of health care costs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Injecting substances, such as medications, using hypodermic needles and syringes is a common procedure in hospitals and clinics and doctor's offices, as well as in the homes of diabetics and other persons that depend upon daily injections. Additionally, injections are also commonly performed on farms. Typically, the injection requires the health care worker or doctor (or patient in the case of self-injections) to hold the bottle of medication in one hand, in an inverted position, and insert the needle into the bottle and partially withdraw the plunger of the syringe until a desired amount of the medication is withdrawn from the bottle. At that point, the tip portion of the needle is removed from the bottle and the bottle placed on a surface so that the injection can be administered.
However, each injection presents an opportunity for an accident, which can range from an unintended stick of the patient, the healthcare worker or a bystander, to an unintended squirting of the medication prior to the needle being inserted into the intended recipient of the medication. Quite often these accidents are the result of the practice of the person having to hold the needle in one hand and the bottle in the other hand, and then having to insert the sharp needle into the relatively small opening on the bottle (which is uniformly small regardless of the size of the body portion of the bottle). The insertion of the needle into the opening of the bottle thus presents a highly risky task, especially when it is repeated many times a day by a variety of staff persons.
Despite the inherent danger of this process, the procedure has remained basically the same for years. Even as concerns over the transmission of diseases through unintended needle pricks has led to improvements in the handling of discarded syringes and needles, the preparation and administration of injections has remained basically the same.
It is therefore felt that there is a significant need for improvements to the safety of this frequently repeated process, but an improvement that can benefit even those persons that self-inject only once a day.